Jury Gives Death Sentence to Yuma Man for Murder

(Phoenix, Ariz. – July 9, 2008) A Yuma County Superior Court jury today sentenced Vincent Lee Accardo, 60, of Yuma, to death in the 1997 killing of Kenneth Cloud, 55, of Bard, Calif. On June 27, the jury found Accardo guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the 1997 death.

In December 1997, Cloud was sitting in his pickup truck outside Burgers and Beer, 321

W. 20th Street in Yuma, after having dinner there when he was shot in the neck through the driver’s side window. The bullet hit a major artery, and Cloud was pronounced dead at Yuma Regional Medical Center.

Kay Cloud, the shooting victim’s wife, is awaiting trial on charges of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. She is accused of hiring Accardo to kill her husband. Her trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 20, 2009.